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Bye week a welcome respite for Eagles

Jason Munz
Published 7:01 p.m. CT Nov. 3, 2015

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Southern Miss wide receiver D.J. Thompson is brought down by a UTEP defender after catching a long pass during the Golden Eagles’ game against UTEP at M.M. Roberts Stadium on Oct. 31.(Photo: Eli Baylis/Hattiesburg American)

“It’s always a good time when you can sit some guys out for a while,” he said. “Dylan Bradley re-hurt himself a little bit, so it’ll be good to get him a week back. Trae Collins wasn’t able to play (against UTEP), so we think we’ll get him back. It’ll be good for Quincy Russell, who’s been dinged up a little bit.

“Because we need to be at full strength. We’ve got two of our last three (games) on the road. And all three of them were bowl eligible teams last year.”

Thompson added it will also give his teammates a chance to let bowl eligibility sink in before refocusing on the team’s next goal — a C-USA West Division title.

“Two years ago, this team would’ve been like, ‘Awww,’ and made all kinds of excuses and complained (about the bye week coming so late in the season),” he said. “We wouldn’t have wanted to get the job done. (Now) we want to get the job done. We don’t care if our legs are gone or not.

“I’m (also) happy we get this bye so everybody can get the whole, ‘We’re bowl eligible, we’re bowl eligible’ out of their system and we can focus on getting to nine wins.”